LIGHT
4Photon Chargeman
Archetype:
Photon
ATK:
1000
DEF:
1000
View:
3037
Once per turn: You can make this card's ATK become double its original ATK, until your next Standby Phase. This card cannot attack the turn you activate this effect.
Photon Chargeman — Power Evaluation
Final Score: 45 ± 6 · Confidence: Medium
- Intrinsic: 50 · Deck: 45 · Meta: provisional
- Primary role: Material body · Secondary: Utility
Why it scores here
Photon Chargeman earns its score almost entirely as a Photon-named Level 4 LIGHT Warrior body within Galaxy/Photon Xyz strategies, where it serves as searchable Xyz material rather than as an effect user. Its ATK-doubling effect is effectively a drawback — activation prevents the card from attacking that same turn, and the boost expires at the next Standby Phase before the following Main Phase, so the card can never realistically attack with boosted ATK. Deck evidence confirms it is consistently a 1-of support piece across 23 decks in multiple Photon-family variants, reachable via Photon Orbital and Accellight. Its 2000 boosted ATK did not earn any points; the self-crippling restriction makes the effect nearly useless.
Axis scores
| Axis | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | 55 | Photon Orbital co-appears in 78.3% of partner decks and Accellight in 73.9%, providing inferred search and Special Summon routes within the Photon engine (inferred from deck partner frequency). |
| Combo & Conversion | 25 | No combo evidence exists; text inference indicates the card adds a Level 4 LIGHT body at best — the ATK-doubling effect prevents attacking on the activation turn and the boost expires before the next Main Phase, contributing nothing to combo lines (inferred from card text). |
| Resource Economy | 20 | The card generates no card advantage; the effect is self-affecting with no search, draw, or GY refuel present in the text (verified from card text). |
| Effect & Interaction | 5 | The sole effect is a self-targeting ATK boost that does not interact with the opponent in any way (verified from card text). |
| Material Utility | 60 | Level 4 LIGHT Warrior with Photon archetype name; Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Photon Thrasher appear as co-partners in 100% of decks running it, confirming its role as Xyz material in the Galaxy/Photon engine (observed from deck partner data). |
| Resilience & Flexibility | 30 | Low base stats (1000/1000), no built-in protection, and the ATK-boosting effect is irrelevant if negated — the card functions purely as a material piece and is trivially removed by standard destruction (verified from card text). |
| Deck-Building Efficiency | 50 | Universally run at exactly 1 copy across all 23 decks, indicating a single flex slot; not a hard garnet within the Photon engine but not a must-run multiple either (observed from deck copy distribution). |
Calculation
Weight profile: 1.0 Material body. Intrinsic ≈ 50, Deck ≈ 45, Meta = provisional. Modifiers: Counterproductive effect (-2). Final formula: 0.40*Intrinsic + 0.60*Deck
Strengths
- Photon archetype name enables synergy with Galaxy/Photon Xyz strategies and name-gated effects
- Level 4 LIGHT Warrior body is suitable Xyz material for archetype staples
- Searchable via Photon Orbital within the dedicated Photon engine
- Special-summonable via Accellight, reducing reliance on Normal Summon
Weaknesses
- ATK-doubling effect prevents attacking on the turn of activation, removing any offensive use
- Boost expires at the next Standby Phase before the following Main Phase, making boosted ATK unreachable for attacking
- Low base ATK/DEF (1000/1000) makes it trivially attacked over without the boost
- Run at only 1 copy in all decks, reflecting limited necessity
- No combo evidence to confirm material role or Xyz contribution in practice
Counters / choke points
- Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring and general effect negation (though the card's own effect is barely relevant anyway)
- Lightning Storm, Raigeki, and simple removal prevent it from reaching Xyz summon
- Dimensional Barrier (Xyz) shuts down the Xyz plays it enables
Best use
Photon-named Level 4 LIGHT Xyz material piece; special-summoned via Accellight or searched via Photon Orbital to set up Xyz plays. Decks: Galaxy Photon, Galaxy-Eyes, Cipher, Tachyon. Suggested copies: 1.
Evidence & gaps
- Verified: Effect Monster, Level 4 LIGHT Warrior, ATK 1000/DEF 1000, Photon archetype (card text); Once per turn ATK-doubling effect prevents attacking on the activation turn; boost lasts until next Standby Phase (card text); Legal in TCG, OCG, MasterDuel, and DuelLinks (formats field); Appears in 23 decks, all running exactly 1 copy (deck distribution data)
- Observed: Present across Galaxy Photon (26.1%), Cipher (13%), Galaxy-Eyes (13%), Tachyon (4.3%), and other Photon-family variants (deck archetypes data); Photon Orbital appears in 78.3% of co-decks and Accellight in 73.9%, consistent with a search/special-summon pipeline (deck partner data); Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon and Photon Thrasher co-appear in 100% of decks running Chargeman (deck partner data)
- Inferred: Card is included primarily as a Photon-named Level 4 LIGHT body for Xyz material, not for its ATK-doubling effect; Photon Orbital likely searches this card as part of the Photon search chain; Accellight likely Special Summons this card to set up Level 4 Xyz plays without spending the Normal Summon
- Data gaps: No combos supplied — combo conversion and material role are inferred from card text and deck partner frequency only No guides supplied — no human confirmation of how the card is used in practice No banlist data — assumed unlimited (3 copies); actual restriction unknown No usage statistics (StatisticsCard) — archetype inclusion rates inferred from 23-deck sample only Photon Orbital and Accellight search/special-summon routes inferred from co-deck frequency, not confirmed via those cards' text